Various types of artificial lighting devices for illuminating interior and/or exterior portions of marine vessels are known in the prior art. However, many suffer from one or more significant drawbacks. Incandescent lamp devices are generally energy inefficient and tend to place a heavy drain on marine batteries and demand on the capacity of the electrical power generators of marine vessels. Their illumination output per watt of electrical input power tends to be low. Incandescent lamps also have a relatively low operating life which, due to the heavy vibration associated with marine vessel applications is shortened even further. To allow their frequent replacement, incandescent lamps are usually mounted removably in sockets which must be readily accessible to permit such replacement. The sockets are generally housed inside an enclosure which has transparent or translucent lens connected to the body of the cover by way of an o-ring or flat ring type gaskets.
Gaskets of this type are subject to rapid degradation due to sunlight, solvents, and fuel, which are very often present in marine vessel environments where such lights are needed. They are also susceptible to damage and improper re-installation when the incandescent lamps are replaced. When the sealing ability of these gaskets is compromised, the device is readily infiltrated by seawater, or fresh water causing short circuits, corrosion and other type of failures.
Gas discharge lighting devices such as ones using fluorescent lamps can offer somewhat better lamp life but also require sockets of some type which must be accessed fairly often to replace the lamp. Accordingly, they too are subject to damage and failure due to water infiltration when their seals are compromised. Gas discharge lamps are also vulnerable to vibration damage and usually require electrical ballasts which make them expensive, bulky and often difficult to install.
To overcome at least some of the drawbacks of marine lighting devices with incandescent or gas discharge lamps many newer types use very bright, energy efficient and mechanically robust light emitting diodes as light sources. Modern LEDs are available in many colors and offer extremely long life.
Unless installed during the process of building the marine vessel in which they are used, many marine lighting devices are difficult to install. Although recessed or low-profile marine lighting devices are available for flat panel mount installations such as in walls or surfaces of control panels, conventional marine lighting devices used for after-market or retrofit applications generally are mounted such that they project outward from the structure which supports them. As such, they do not provide an aesthetically pleasing installed appearance and are more prone to damage or being knocked loose. More importantly, they occupy free space which is often limited in marine vessels and present obstructions which can be hazardous or interfere with safe and easy operation and use of this vessel.